testing a loaner Brompton
 

So I have been wanting to ride a Brompton for quite some time now given how die hard the fan base is and I finally am getting a good opportunity. I have a really quite nice demo bike for the next few days, a laquer finish six speed version with the straight bars and I thought I would offer up some observations as a non-brompton fanboy.

on my initial ride first thing I had to tackle was unfolding it, this is going to take some practice to get smooth and quick, all the little interlocks which keep it nice and secure when folded make it a very particular sequence of lifting and unlocking things in just the right order to get it to separate, nothing too bad but the first time it is a bit fiddly and having done this with other folding bikes it was and adjustment granted this does stay folded better than those bikes.

as far as the fit and finish of the bike, it is beautiful, those braze joints look great everything fits tight and secure and the steel frame feels surprisingly solid.

But then I jumped on the bike and rode it, first thing is that the steering felt super twitchy and I ride some fast steering bikes already now i am sure given some time I could get used to it but I hadn't expected it to quite that degree. The next thing your are confronted with is the vertical controls, now I understand the necessity of this but its a little annoying having to rotate your wrist like that to brake. the other controlls issue is specific to the 6 speed, having a 2 speed derailleur and a 3 speed hub and given the very wide percentage drops of the hub and the small drop of the derailleur progressing through the gears smoothly is quite a task and for only 6 speeds, were I to get one of these bikes I might opt for a single speed. By the time I reached the end of the first block I flet the drivetrain efficiency was pretty poor, now this is most likely just the IGH but it was pretty significant, the next day I jumped on my single speed and it felt like a rocket ship in comparison.

now I will say that this is just my first impression and I am going to try and live with this bike for the next few days and really give it a chance. I love the compactness of the fold and the quality of the bike maybe it will win me over with a little time.

edit: on additional thing, everyone always raves about rolling the brompton while folded and so I had to give this a try and I must say on the stock bike without the rear rack it does not work at all. the tiny wheels it rolls on give you a 5deg range of incline with which to have the bike rolling and I could barely get the bike 2 feet without either the front wheel hitting the ground and stopping the bike or grinding the suspension link on the pavement. you would definitely have to mod that with larger wheels to get any use out of the feature.

:popcorn

I think your complaints are part of the long discussion here. Lots of threads on these very issues.

The only thing I'll add here is that there are four different handlebars which accommodate different types of riders. If the Brompton is appealing in many other ways and you think some small ergonomic changes could make it much better, you should test those out too.

As I say often , Front Load makes the low trail 'twitchy ness' disappear.

Get the front Luggage Block and a front Bag.

I don't think I am breaking new ground or anything just sharing impressions and the point is to see how they evolve over a period of time, this first post is by no means my final word.

it is possible that the other bars might help but I was going for the S bars because they were the lowest as I am not a very tall person at 5'7" and I like a more forward aggressive riding posture but even with the flat bars the bike felt very upright like a hybrid.

FWIW as I read the comparison graphic.. The H Mast puts the bar center clamp up where the S mast does , but by adding 3cm below and above the hinge , the bar , standard is an M bar , wont hit the ground, when folded..

You can always replace that bar with a Low rise MTB bar and get a maybe more comfortable grip sweep angle as well.

Have never tried a 16 inch wheel bike but your impression is what I would imagine. The ride seems like it would be rather harsh and twitchy as heck.

You get used to the twitch pretty quick, and once you do other bikes can feel weird. Front bag with some weight does help a lot. Mine is usually a single speed although I have also a 3 speed wheel, and occasionally add a 38 tooth chain ring with the greasy finger front derailleur option. So, i can have a single, double, three or six speed. Their hinges are stout and rebuildable if necessary. I think they are solid little bikes.

Yeap.

I have a one-day test ride of a Brompton coming up in just over a week. Don't know if I'll be offered a choice of handlebar style or not, but if I am I'm curious as to what I should choose.

I'm a 6' tall male who is used to drop bar bikes but with not very much seat-to-bar drop. The only folding bike with which I've had significant experience is a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket that I bought in 1994 and which was used as my commute and club group ride bike for a number of years but has lately been relegated mainly to use on trips involving air travel. It handles a bit differently from my other bikes, but I've never had any issue switching back and forth other than the shifters and water bottle being in a different position.

So, if I'm offered a choice, what Brompton model/style should I choose for the test ride day?

Thugpipe, as a Brompton owner I think you have hit every nail on the head with your first report. I was just talking with my wife today about riding our Bromptons and I said you don't buy the Brompton for the quality of its ride you buy it for the fold.

If I didn't need the compact fold, I would have bought a Moulton instead. Much nicer riding compact bike.

I would try middle of the road and get an M bar. The one thing about the S bar is that there is actually more cockpit room so keep that in mind when testing.

- you can adjust the angle of the brake levers and gear selectors to fit you better
- the you adapt to the twitchiness quickly and other bikes start to handle a bit more slowly
- shifting with the IGH I just ease up or quickly coast then shift then get back on the pedals again (kinda like lifting up on the gas on a car to shift gears)... this becomes pretty quick to do
- if the bike you test road was a fully loaded model with racks + 6 spd + a hub dynamo to power lights + the heavy duty schwalbe marathon tires... its gonna feel slow and heavy and probably at least 10lbs heavier (maybe even more so due to the parasitic drag from a hub dynamo) than a 1spd with titanium bits and slick tires

I always like the P-bar ... the one that looks like a pretzel. It wasn't available when I had a Brompton.

FWIW, we're the same height.

Ok so checking back in, I have been riding the bike a bit more and folding it and carrying it around.

The fold really is the best part of this bike it's great though it is still quite heavy at 27lbs (I weighed it, it has no dynamo or racks)so you don't want to be carrying it around for too long, by comparison my Dahon silvertip weighs 22.5lbs with kojak tires and you feel the difference but it's much more unwieldy than the Brompton folded. I am sure with modified roller wheels I would be much happier.

As to the ride, well you can get used to anything. I checked the tire pressure on the marathons and it was down at 40psi so I cranked it up to about 75psi and that helped a bit but you really can't get past the drive efficiency thing. I definitely feel that were I to buy one it would be a single speed and I would probably only ride it when I felt the fold size was a necessity.

Nope look back @ my, 4th post.

If you want a "sporty" ride; I would suggest pumping the tires to the max pressure - 100psi I think for the Marathons.
It still won't roll as fast as Kojaks or Comet Primos though. 6 speed with Kojaks:

https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7631/1...e4f7f75ce5.jpg2013 Brompton S6L-X by 1nterceptor, on Flickr